Dana White has revealed that the sky is the limit for the amount of viewers who will tune in for the UFC: White House event this weekend.
“For UFC fans all over the world, this is a very unique experience for everybody,” White said during an interview on TNT Sports. “We’re expecting Super Bowl-type numbers for this fight.”
That’s a bold prediction when you consider that the latest Super Bowl drew a staggering 127.7 million viewers in North America alone between FOX, FOX Deportes, Telemundo and Tubi.
As a frame of reference, the biggest ever audience for an MMA event occurred just last month when Netflix aired MVP: Rousey vs. Carano, which peaked with 17 million viewers, with nine million of those coming from the United States.
The UFC: White House event is a unique draw though as it has the spectacle of being held on the lawn of the White House and also tying in with the celebration of the United States 250th birthday.
And while the event’s leading stars like Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira aren’t considered massive draws like a Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey were in their heyday, the fact that President Trump has championed this event and will be promoting it heavily in the lead-up to Sunday night should have a big impact on the viewership.
The size of the event can already be felt by the fact that mainstream news and political channels have already been talking about, and whether the coverage is good or bad it’s all valuable publicity as far as the UFC is concerned.
One major stumbling block for the event’s global reach however is that it will be taking place at the same time as the early stages of the biggest sporting event of the year, with the soccer World Cup being hosted in North America from 11th June through to 19th July.